If this is to be an indictment of anything, is this an indictment of love, or an indictment of transient lust? Seems to me this helps support the idea that being in a lasting relationship spanning a number of years boils down to a lot more than a temporary hormonal spike...

You know, this could be the greatest weapon against divorce ever concieved.

Now that we've identified this chemical, we're a step closer to developong a drug that delivers or induces the production of the chemical. Then, when a couple finds itself in need of relationship counseling, they can reignite the romance directly as a supplement to their efforts to work out their problems, quite literally renewing their relationship.

Which, I admit, sounds quite cold and calculating. But as someone who's alive today because of modern antidepressants, I've become used to the idea of better living through artificial neurochemistry.

Then, when a couple finds itself in need of relationship counseling, they can reignite the romance directly as a supplement to their efforts to work out their problems, quite literally renewing their relationship.

IIRC there have been experiments using Ecstasy in conjunction with couples' therapy using a similar logic...

Here's a song by Bush (the band, not the president) to go along with your post:"The Chemicals Between Us"[from the final chorus]The chemicals between usThe army of achieversLying in this bedThe chemicals displacedThere is no lonlier faceThan lying in this bed

The chemicals between usThe chemicals between usThe chemicals

itunes has a clip of the chorus.

I've always like the song, but never thought it would really work for any kind of romantic situation.

Both have merits. If you innoculate people against the 'spark' of first love than you might expect that they'll make more rational choices with regards to life partners.

On the other hand, if you provide a 'relationship viagra' pill full of these hormones than you can manipulate a couple's limbic system into believing that they are still in the flush of new love for as long as they are willing to pay for the treatments.

Our you could leave science out of the process altogether and leave nature be.

(and have they studied domesticated dogs compared to wild dogs, maybe their excessive imprinting on their human alphas comes from an inability to turn these chemicals off)